The Department of Radio Communication Systems and Networks is one of the oldest research and teaching units at the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics of the Gdańsk University of Technology. Its origins date back to 1946 when the Department of Radio Engineering was established within the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the GUT. After the establishment of the Faculty of Communications in 1952, currently the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, the first head in 1952-1983 of the then Department of Radio Transmission Technology was prof. Leonard Knoch. During this period, the Department initially offered education in the radio engineering specialty, and then in the radio communication systems specialty. Many graduates of these specializations were the basic engineering staff of many regional and national design offices as well as production and service companies working in the field of communications and electronics, such as UNIMOR in Gdańsk and RADMOR and MORS in Gdynia.
Scientific and research activities in this period covered the broadly understood field of radio communication, making a significant contribution to the development of the theory and technique of wireless telecommunications. Particular emphasis was placed on the implementation aspect of these works, i.e. the execution of orders from design offices and enterprises. An example of this may be the design and implementation of radiotelephony networks in the 1960s for the needs of communication and mining companies, and the development in the second half of the 1970s of a ship terminal for satellite communication in the INMARSAT system.
In addition to innovation and implementation activities, scientific research was also carried out. Dr inż. Wiktor Pawłowski has conducted unique, long-term propagation research on the refractive properties of the tropospheric environment of the southern Baltic Sea. The results of this work were included in the materials of CCIR, the predecessor of today's ITU (International Telecommunications Union). During this period, the Department staff published two monographs, the first one: Modulation and Detection by prof. Leonard Knoch and dr inż. Teresa Ekiert, and the second: Satellite Radiocommunication Systems, edited by prof. L. Knoch.
In 1983 prof. Dominik Rutkowski became the head of the Department. During the next 26 years, i.e. until 2009, he developed teaching and research in the field of modern digital radiocommunication and new generations of cellular networks. The result was the establishment of a scientific school and the promotion of a dozen or so doctors, some of whom obtained postdoctoral degrees and reached professorships in Poland and abroad. During this period, teaching was also adjusted to the needs resulting from economic changes taking place in Polish wireless telecommunications, related to the design and construction of new infrastructure of next-generation cellular networks.
Another change in the position of the head of the Department took place in 2009. This position was given to prof. Ryszard Katulski, who made changes in the Department in two key areas, i.e. human resources and research. The result was the creation of a competent team capable of undertaking high-level research, including research for the needs of public security and state defense. Cooperation with the Polish Navy and the Maritime Division of the Border Guard, the Research and Development Center - Centrum Techniki Morskiej in Gdynia and the Gdańsk telecommunications company DGT Sp. z o. o. was established. Moreover, in 2009 a book by prof. R. Katulski entitled Radio wave propagation in wireless telecommunications was published. It was the first complex national study in the field of radio propagation in several decades.
In 2018, prof. Jacek Stefanski became the head of the Department. His priority area of work is radiolocation and radio navigation issues in radiocommunication networks, including asynchronous solutions. As a result of this work, three monographs were published [in Polish]: Badanie metod i projektowanie usług lokalizacyjnych w sieciach radiokomunikacyjnych by J.Stefanski, Badanie i analiza systemów radiolokalizacyjnych do zastosowań specjalnych by J. Sadowski, and Asynchroniczne metody radiolokalizacyjne by J.Stefanski.
The year 2020 brought another significant staff changes. Prof. Stefański became the dean of the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, and Jarosław Sadowski became the head of the Department of Radio Communication Systems and Networks.
Currently, the team of the Department conducts research in the field of broadly understood radiocommunication, and the most important part of our activity includes research in the following areas:
- development of modern radio communication, including 2G-5G systems and networks, next generation networks NGN, new radio interfaces and radio resource management,
- Software Defined Radio (SDR), especially the development of tools and methods for adaptive radio links,
- cognitive radio, especially effective methods of radio spectrum access management,
- radio localization and radio navigation, ubiquitous positioning,
- radio channel modelling in radio networks, including wireless body area networks (WBAN) and NGN in uncommon scenarios and propagation environments,
- electromagnetic compatibility in radio communication,
- radio networks design,
- propagation of radio waves, antennas and MIMO technique,
- application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially in form of Deep Learning (DL) in radio communication,
- vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to infractructure (V2I) communication systems,
- systems and devices for special applications, including state security.
To sum up, the area of our scientific activity is very wide. Conducting research in such a wide area requires qualified personnel and modern equipment.
In recent years, we have regularly recruited some of our best graduates who join research during their studies, and after graduation, undertake doctoral studies and continue their research activities. Thanks to the obtained funds, we have unique measurement and research equipment, such as spectrum and circuit analyzers, specialized signal generators and programmable radio communication receivers as well as universal testers of radio communication systems, which cover the full frequency range up to 26 GHz. In our research laboratory, we also have original solutions of demonstrators of selected wireless solutions for special purposes, made as part of research projects carried out so far. In 2019, this laboratory obtained a certificate confirming that the quality management system implemented in the laboratory complies with the ISO 9001: 2015 standard. We also have a software defined radio laboratory. This allows taking up advanced scientific and research challenges.
